NEWARK — For Sean Kilpatrick, the best thing about coming home this past weekend was not scoring 21 points in Cincinnati’s Big East win at Seton Hall.

No, the best moment may have happened before the game even started.

That’s when the junior from Yonkers, N.Y. ran out onto the Prudential Center floor and saw his 2-year-old daughter, Bailey, waiting in the crowd to see him play.

“Coming out of the tunnel being able to see her was just amazing,” the man they call “SK” told SNY.tv exclusively following Cincinnati’s 66-59 victory in which he went 5-of-15 from beyond the arc.

A former star at White Plains High School and Notre Dame Prep, Kilpatrick hadn’t seen Bailey since September. She lives with her mother, Brittany, in White Plains; Kilpatrick said he and the baby’s mother are not together.

“My mom actually helps along with that as well, so I get to see her on FaceTime or Skype or something like that,” Kilpatrick said.

“So to actually get to physically see her and her clapping and doing everything is just amazing.”

A Preseason All-Big East First Team selection, Kilpatrick said his own parents were separated and that he wants to make a different life for Bailey.

“I don’t want my daughter to grow up basically the way I did,” he said. “I mean, I grew up kind of tough. It was tough for my mom and my dad.”

He has scored 20 or more points in eight games this season, including three times in Cincinnati’s last five games.

“I think his understanding is much better,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “He’s much more an all-around player. He’s still gotta become better at blocking out. He’ll go get the ball but when his man is a rebounder, that’s probably his biggest weakness.

“But his ball-handling, his pace, letting the game come to him, controlling his aggression offensively is where he’s really developed…But obviously, he’s one of the class players in our league.”

Kilpatrick is planning on playing professionally down the road — hopefully in the NBA — to help provide for his daughter.

“Once I’m able to sit here and give my daughter a different background and a different way of life, that’s something major to me so I take that very personal, especially if I’m sitting here playing basketball,” he said. “That is a full-time job.”

Kilpatrick remains best friends with former Bearcat Lance Stephenson, the Brooklyn native who is now averaging 8.3 points and 2.8 assists for the resurgent Indiana Pacers. Stephenson has two children of his own.

“It’s funny because we actually spoke [Friday] night after his game,” Kilpatrick said.

“It’s just amazing knowing that your best friend, even though he has a busy schedule and he’s going through what he’s going through with the NBA, he can still stay in touch with you.

“When I do have the open time just to go around and go to Indiana and especially to see him, it’s just amazing. So it feels like that beat, it never skipped a beat between me and him. Then on top of that we’re speaking every day, so it’s just amazing.

“I love him, just like he loves me and that’s the greatest part about it.”

And like Stephenson, Kilpatrick wants to end up in the NBA to help provide for his daughter.

“I have that type of confidence in myself,” he said.

“But also Lance, he always put that in my head, ‘You can make it here.’ It’s not like it’s an impossible thing. Everything is possible. And you gotta continue to keep God in your corner and continue to keep that type of faith in your corner that you can make it.”

If our secondary wasn't in shambles I could potentially see this team winning 10 games, but lets's be real even Eli Manning torched us with a 90 yard drive and a last second touchdown. Consequently, I wouldn't be surprised if we only won 6 games.

@cippycups ummm wait, so 4th preseason game IS important now? im confused...how come no other teams/fans are concerned about the last preseason game that is filled with 3rd and 4th stringers? but now we are worried about it? wake up pal

@WW85 That one came out yesterday, we had a little discussion about it. Lots of funnies in there, only a few things I vehemently disagreed with, and it's all in good fun. Drew Magary, the guy who writes them, is a Vikings fan and his Vikings WYTS is BRUTAL. So no one can accuse him of playing favorites.

@nickballs@Tequila Joe You need to be consistent and have the ability to close games if you want to win them. Did you see the Bengals game? Did you see the ranga (Dalton) pick us apart? Did you see Luck destroy any confidence Patterson had and consequently not even have the testicular fortitude to show up for the next game? Yes, we beat up Eli and I loved it, but he still lead them on that late drive to make it a 10-7 game. Did we dominate that game, yes. Could you tell by the score, no...

Is it that interesting? They probably went through it game by game, then looked at the overall record and were like "wait, the Jets can't have a winning season... LOSE LOSE LOSE LOSE! There we go, all better."

@Tequila Joe@Brian Serviss Trust me, I watch more football in a week than you have in your life. My comment came from yours saying that they are in shambles and only using one example to show why they are in shambles. Which was, yes, one drive

@williamg1@Bent 16th ranked offense & 12th ranked Defense. 9-7 ish I think. We need a homerun on the outside to be really good I think. But if our 3headed monster can control the clock, we can go deeep I think.

@WW85@Brian Serviss@williamg1 But where have the fish improved? They had a decent season last year and didn't really improve yet they are this hot team that can derail the Pats. The Jets had a decent team last year and actually improved but are yet lower than dirt? Doesn't make sense

@Tequila Joe You think our secondary is worse than last year when we had mostly subpar Milliner & terrible Cro? This year we have better safety play, better Milliner & a left side maybe as bad as Cro. It's about the same. Our offense is clearly better. Even last year, we competed in virtually every game except a couple.

About Adam Zagoria

Adam is a Basketball Insider for NBA.com and SNY.tv, where he covers basketball at all levels.

He is the author of two books, including "She's Got Handle," called "The 'Hoop Dreams' of the 21st Century" by The New York Times. His second book, "ULTIMATE: The First Four Decades," documents the colorful history of Ultimate Frisbee and was profiled in Sports Illustrated.

An award-winning journalist, his articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, Sports Illustrated, SLAM, Basketball Times and newspapers nationwide.

A veteran Ultimate player, Adam has competed in numerous World & National Championships, and his teams won the Westchester Summer League titles in 2011 & 2013.

He has also attended more Allman Brothers Band, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Rolling Stones shows than he cares to remember.

Adam lives in Manhattan with his wife, Jennifer, and their children, Grace and James.